WordPress VPS - Getting Started Guide
Your WordPress VPS based on Ubuntu 24.04 comes fully configured - WordPress is installed with the domain, admin account and site title you specified during order. All you need to do is point your domain to the server's IP address, and your site will be live.
Software Included
| Component | Version |
|---|---|
| Ubuntu | 24.04.3 LTS |
| Apache | 2.4.58 |
| MySQL | 8.0.44 |
| PHP | 8.3.6 |
| WordPress | 6.9 |
| WP-CLI | 2.12.0 |
| Certbot | 2.9.0 |
| Fail2Ban | 1.0.2 |
| Postfix | 3.8.6 |
Step 1 - Get Your Server IP Address
After your VPS is created, log in to your client panel and open your VPS service details. Find the IP address of your server.
Your site is already accessible by IP address right away - open http://your.server.ip in a browser to verify it works. But for your domain to work, you'll need to set up DNS in the next step.
Step 2 - Point Your Domain to the Server
Go to your domain registrar's DNS settings and create A records pointing to your server's IP address:
| Type | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| A | @ | your.server.ip |
| A | www | your.server.ip |
DNS changes usually take a few minutes, but can take up to 24 hours. You can check the status at dnschecker.org.
Step 3 - Access Your Site
Once DNS has propagated, your site is live:
- Your site:
http://yourdomain.com - Admin panel:
http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin
Log in with the admin credentials you entered during the order.
Step 4 - Enable SSL (Recommended)
Your site works over HTTP by default. To enable HTTPS with a free Let's Encrypt certificate, connect via SSH using the root password from your service details page:
ssh root@your.server.ip/opt/setup/get-ssl.shThe script will verify DNS, obtain a Let's Encrypt certificate and switch your site to HTTPS automatically. Automatic renewal is already configured. After completion, your site is available at https://yourdomain.com.
Post-Installation
SSL Certificate Renewal
Let's Encrypt certificates are valid for 90 days. Automatic renewal is configured. You can test it with:
certbot renew --dry-runFail2Ban - Brute-Force Protection
Your server comes with Fail2Ban pre-configured to protect both SSH and WordPress from brute-force attacks.
| Rule | Max Attempts | Ban Duration |
|---|---|---|
| SSH | 5 failed logins | 10 minutes |
| WordPress (hard) | 3 failed logins | 1 hour |
| WordPress (soft) | 5 failed logins | 10 minutes |
Useful commands:
# Check banned IPs
fail2ban-client status wordpress-hard
fail2ban-client status sshd
# Unban an IP
fail2ban-client set wordpress-hard unbanip 1.2.3.4If you accidentally lock yourself out (it happens), connect via VNC console in your client panel and unban your IP.
Server Credentials
MySQL credentials are stored in /root/.wp_credentials. WordPress is pre-configured to use them.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Site doesn't open in browser | Check that your domain's A record points to the server IP. Use dnschecker.org to verify |
| Certbot fails | DNS probably hasn't propagated yet. Wait 10-15 minutes and try again |
| Forgot WordPress admin password | SSH in and run: wp user update admin --user_pass="newpass" --allow-root --path="/var/www/html" |
| Blocked by Fail2Ban | Use VNC console in your client panel to unban your IP |
| Can't connect via SSH | Check that port 22 is not blocked. Try VNC console as a fallback |
- WordPress Documentation: wordpress.org/support